AP Photo/David J. Phillip
FILE: Contact tracers work at Harris County Public Health contact tracing facility Thursday, June 25, 2020, in Houston, Texas.
Houston-area public health officials have asserted that the threat of the Ebola virus is low to the region and to the United States. Nonetheless, the city and county health departments have launched an Ebola dashboard to monitor the potential scope of the virus in the greater Houston area.
The dashboard on the website for the Harris County Public Health department covers Houston and Harris County and includes a number of facts about the Ebola virus disease — including symptoms, transmission, prevention and travel advisories. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an ongoing outbreak originated, said Wednesday there have been more than 360 confirmed Ebola cases, including 62 deaths, according to the Associated Press.
The Houston-area dashboard reports that 17 travelers, likely from Ebola-impacted countries in Africa, are currently being monitored. No cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Houston area.
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“This joint dashboard is part of our ongoing commitment to collaboration and transparency in public health, much like the other public health dashboards that our health departments have created together,” Dr. Theresa Tran, director of the Houston Health Department, said in a Thursday news release. “Its purpose is to provide timely, shared access to information and situational awareness for our community and partners, but it does not indicate that Ebola is a public health threat. Our public health system remains vigilant and stands ready to respond swiftly and effectively to any disease threat.”
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The dashboard includes data from both the city and county health departments and will be updated on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. Its next update is expected to come the afternoon before the FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11. Between June 14 and July 4, Houston is scheduled to host seven matches as part of the international soccer tournament.
After next week’s dashboard update, the following update would be expected after Houston has already hosted two matches in its stadium, including one involving the team from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prior to the release of the dashboard, public health leaders, including Tran, asserted the likelihood of an outbreak of Ebola in Houston amidst the World Cup is low.
The players and staff for Congo’s national soccer team are expected to be cleared to come to the United States and play in the World Cup as they have been in Europe in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Houston will be the team’s home base, and its first World Cup match will be played in Houston on June 17.
“They are not any more of a public health threat than you or I at this time because they have been outside of the DRC in the area of concern where the Ebola outbreak has been, as requested by FIFA and by the United States government,” Tran said at a news conference Tuesday,
In a briefing before the Houston City Council last month, Tran said any Congolese fans at NRG Stadium would only be there because the federal government has cleared them for travel.
During the World Cup, Harris County public health officials will be keeping an internal dashboard to monitor “general ailments and incidents, even outside of Ebola,” according to a news release.